Misc. Musings

First of all, I'm too old for tumbling. Klutzy me opened the front door Tuesday and bent down to pick up a couple of packages. The screen door swung and caught on the back of my sandal pulling it off my foot and sending me tumbling down the steps. Fortunately, I barreled into a hurricane fence which broke my fall. so today, I'm very sore and have a scraped knee and elbow.  Yesterday I was really stiff, now I feel a little looser; but' can't bend my right knee enough to get into the car comfortably.

Also I received more emails from cousin Sara. This reconnection of family ties is encouraging. Regina has a million relatives on her side. All I have is a sister and two first cousins. Just reconnected with another one so I'm starting to feel like I have a family again since Mom and Dad have both passed on.  Sara told me that I have no Civil war ancestor on the Knott side which really annoys me because I'd like somehow to link to that period of American history which is my favorite........

Attached is a photo of my grandson Liam who is enjoying a Hogwart's Lego kit  that we sent him for his birthday

More Family Connections!

Today, I linked up with my long lost cousin Sara whom I haven't seen in oh 40 or so years!  I gave her the email addresses of other cousins with which to communicate. Yesterday, Judi and I went to Fairmount Cemetery in Newark, NJ where we found our grandmother Sara's grave. It was nearly completely covered so we dug it out and placed flowers nearby.

Going on a Reading Frenzy!!

I don't know what possessed me, but right now I'm reading 3 books at once. One because I believe we have a civic duty to understand how our constitution is being effected so I'm readiing Mark Levin's "Liberty Amendments". I'm also reading James Pattersons "Zoo" and Nelson Demille's "Gold Coast". I switch back and forth between fiction and non fiction to keep the mind at rest I suppose. Levin's book is scary but very educational. The other two take my mind off of what we are becoming, a Nation of Entitlement.

Yardwork, etc. Yippee!!!

Spent a good deal of yesterday clearing the back yard of weeds, now we can see the gravel again :-)  Me and the wife woke up today sore as heck from yesterday's labors; and we tried to mitigate pain by resting our 60 year old plus bodies by resting every few minutes. Guess what, it didn't work!  Its been a busy week, also shredded another 5 bags worth of old outdated documents. I hate homes. If I'm ever reincarnated I'm going to be a renter again. Let someone else worry about  the grounds, the roof, plumbing, etc. Today I am going to saw up a tree limb that fell in our yard from one of those darn windstorms we've been experiencing lately.

Catskills - - Bavarian Manor Inn

Just came back from a few days in the Catskills breathing in that fresh mountain air; which of course is very exhausting when you are used to the thermal inversion problems in the Hudson Valley just above New York City. We went to the Bavarian Manor Inn -again- a neat little place recommended by a friend a few years back. Been there at least three or four times now. Reasonable prices and a great Bavarian Restaurant. They have the best porch in the world there. My wife does a lot of stitching on the porch and I get a lot of reading done.

We also visited an Irish Feche in East Durham and a Riverside fair in Coxackie. Did some antiquing- Regina found stuff she liked, me not so much. But; I bought a cap that had Roscommon embroidered on it along with the county shield where my Grandmother was born in Ireland. Weather was pretty good as well. Only

 a couple of passing showers as we were whiling away the hours on the porch. Looking forward to another visit in six months or so.

Below is a photo of our favorite funky restaurant in Tannersville, the Last Chance Cheese Antiques Cafe. They have a Spinach Quiche there that Regina loves and a Bison Burger that I like. There is also a great assortment of goodies and their iced tea is delicious.Here is their cap which I thought was quirky and deserving a place in my collection.